ajbeck21

Hi I Have A New Bike In The Works It Should Be Ready In About A Month So I'm Looking For A Nice Stem Mounted Wireless Computer That Has Speed Distance Cadence And Heart Rate For Around $100-$200 (i've Been Looking At The Garmin Edge 305 Any Thoughts ?? )

-Devil-

well from what i understand on the garmin one ... its milage is not always completly accurate ...

i can't offer much other advice though, i have a sigma one on mine .. but it is wired ... and i have a seperate HRM.

flip18436572

I bought a Garmin Forerunner 305. Miles are very accurate, when compared to my cateye strada 8 and other on-line mileage tracking and comparing to my pickup.

I don't have the cadence sensor, because the cateye has that. I am going to borrow a cadence sensor from someone and see if I like it. The heart rate monitor works well and I compared it to my Polar and they are the same heart rates

I didn't want the Edge, because it was not made for running, and I am trying to do both.

thunderphill

I love my edge for all the features on it. Uploading routs that you preplan. My biggest gripe is just having to reset the cadance everytime I want to use it.

sstorkel

If you just want speed, distance, and heart rate you'll save yourself a ton of money by buying a Cateye Strada Cadence computer and a Polar heart monitor. Figure the Cateye computer is around $40, maybe less if you can find it on sale, and a basic Polar heart rate monitor is around $90-120.

If you're going to go GPS, you might as well buy the Edge 705. Buying a GPS unit that can't show you a map seems a bit silly...

flip18436572

Do you really need a map to ride a bicycle? I guess some people do, but the Forerunner 305 gives me the information I need for my workouts. It shows me the map of where I rode, but I only ride in areas around me, so it doesn't really matter. I took my bike with me to Tennessee and rode 40 mile routes, but I didn't need a map there either. I guess a lot of you must do a lot of century rides in different locations.

I had a cateye Strada 8 with the cadence. I used it a lot, but is worthless for my running that I am getting in also, that is why I went with the forerunner 305.

Bill Kapaun

I think sometimes, it's not about needing it, but "pimping out" your toys.
I put a cheap speedometer on my bike. I didn't need it, but for $12, why not?
It turned out to be a great investment, since it showed that I was actually faster by using a lower gear and spinning! That concept was totally foreign to me.
I'm in the process of converting another cheap one into a cadence meter. I don't need it, but I think it'll remind me to keep my cadence up, until I tend to do that more "naturally".
Those aren't major changes, but it allows me to add a bit of "personality" to my old bike.

flip18436572

That is what I did with the cadence, but I also wanted something I could use for running and biking, so that is why I purchased the Garmin Forerunner 305. I have someone from another forum who is letting me borrow a cadence sensor from one of his 305 units, to see if I would like it on my bike. I think I will, and then I will ask for it as a Birthday/Christmas gift. I don't buy much for myself, so to me these are big purchases. To others this is just pocket change.

DTSCDS

My only advice is to stay away from the Polar CS series. My wife and I just bought the CS200. Hers wouldn't register the cadence all the time. It would stop periodically and then just start back up on its own. Her heart rate monitor was sketchy too. Mine woulnd't register the speed AT ALL. It never worked. My cadence was fine. The heart rate came and went a couple of times. I had put stronger magnets on them before we left out but that didn't help at all.
After I had ordered them I started doing a google search--a little backward but that's just me! I found lots of folks having trouble with sensors not working. I was hoping ours would come in and everything would be just fine. Oh well...
We made one 32 mile ride and took them back to Performance. They were great about taking them back with no hassle!
I am putting our Trek incite 9i's back on. We have had NO problems with those. Too bad they don't do cadence or heart rate...

sstorkel

Do you really need 14 (or more) gears?

Here's the thing: a GPS unit without maps is just a really, really, really expensive bicycle computer. Or heart rate monitor; whichever way you want to think about it. With maps, it becomes a much more versatile tool. Not only can you use it when cycling, but also when hiking, backpacking, navigating an unfamiliar city, etc. And if you like to look for new cycling routes, as I do, then the maps can actually be helpful.

flip18436572

The forerunner 305 gives you a map of what your ride, run, walk or whatever, but it also does the things I want it to do for me. I would have purchased the EDGE if I didn't use it for running and wanted to spend more money. I was offering the Forerunner for what it was designed for and what I wanted mine to do. If I wanted a GPS to give me directions for my car and motorcycle, I would probably buy something completely different and designed specifically for those things.

Just my opinion.

kokomo61

I have an Edge 305 and have been very happy with it (except for the cadence reset thing mentioned earlier). I switch it between 3 bikes, and I always have to reset it.

I'm really glad I have it, because I get to use it in a court case later this month. A guy blew through a crosswalk and hit me (traffic on either side of the crosswalk had stopped - he passed them on the right).

The Garmin shows every place I slowed, stopped, stopped pedaling, etc.....and shows me stopped at that intersection for 10 seconds before moving forward (then being hit by the driver). So....when he claims that I ran through the stop sign, I have hard data to contradict his story......

whiteoakcanyon

I own the Polar CS 200 with Cadence & have enjoyed it. However, I have heard nightmare stories about lack of support from Polar and inaccurate readings, so despite my positive experience I can not recommend it. If you are considering one you should visit the Polar forum on line, it is a sad reflection on a well established company. Good luck with your purchase. I have found having the heart monitor and tracking cadence has been a big help.

Wogster

Do you need more then 14 gears, probably not if they are spaced out correctly

The problem with the maps and direction finders, is that most such units are designed for motor vehicles, around here bicycles are specifically banned from expressways. Such units usually, assume that your in a motor vehicle, and you want the expressway. What is needed is a bicycle specific one, that will pick the route that uses lowest traffic streets and the flattest route possible, making use of bike lanes and bicycle specific roads/trails where available. It's like the sites like map my ride, we have one place here where there is a route that is one way for cars, but not for bikes. The one way do not enter sign has a bicycles excepted sign under it, it then goes along a side path and out through a community centre parking area. If you turn on the follow roads option, it will refuse to go along there, that's not MMR's fault it's the underlying google map doesn't know that bikes CAN go that way.....

Then again, I find the best way to go, is to simply mark up a map, using MMR and copying it's notes into a spread sheet, and making a couple of changes, like proceed through park on trail, then out onto whatever street.